In a machine for molding a self-hardening material such as concrete for successively producing elongated molded articles, it has been found desirable to incorporate an elongated mold box which carries a removable liner or pallet and is movable between a vertical position for receiving the moldable material and a horizontal position where the molded article is stripped along with the liner or pallet from the mold box and moved onto a horizontal receiving platform or run-out table. Such machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,303,545, and 3,624,825 which issued to Applicant.
In the former patent, the molded article is ejected with its liner from the mold box onto a receiving platform by means of a pusher plate which is pushed through the mold by the extension of the piston rod of a fluid cylinder supported adjacent the molding machine on the side opposite of the receiving platform. Similarly, in the molding machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,063, a molded article is ejected from a tilting mold box by first retracting a set of core members from the article with a fluid cylinder and then using the core members to push the molded article from the mold box onto a receiving platform or table. In Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,825, the tilting mold box of the molding machine incorporates or carries with it a fluid cylinder which is extended when it is desired to strip each molded article from the mold box.
It has been found desirable to minimize the floor space required by a molding machine or apparatus of the type disclosed in the above patents. While the machine disclosed in above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,825 provides this desirable feature by incorporating a fluid cylinder within the tiltable mold box for stripping each article, the stripping cylinder is subjected to substantial vibration while the concrete or material is being condensed within the mold box by vibrators mounted on the mold box. As a result, additional maintenance is required by the fluid cylinder which is not only difficult to maintain but is also difficult to keep clean. Furthermore, when a mold box has substantial length, the fluid stripping cylinder also has a corresponding length. However, when a long piston rod is extended for stripping an article from the mold box, the piston rod tends to wander as it is extended, resulting in substantial bending forces being exerted on the extended piston rod.